Te'o backs NRL shoulder charge ban

Date: January 25 2013

Joe Barton

South Sydney recruit Ben Te'o, who copped a two-game suspension for a brutal shoulder charge last year, says he planned to remove the controversial tackle from his game before it was banned by the ARL Commission in the off-season.

Te'o's monstrous hit on Matt Groat, which left the young West Tiger unconscious, earned the then-Brisbane enforcer a two-week suspension.

Te'o's hit, along with now-Rabbitohs teammate Greg Inglis' infamous shot on St George Illawarra's Dean Young, encouraged the ARLC to officially outlaw the shoulder charge as a legal tackle just before last year's finals series.

But far from being outraged by the ruling Te'o supports it, saying he had long been thinking of eradicating it from his own defensive approach.

"(Shoulder charges) were part of my game for a while, but it's always something that I was trying to get out of my game," Te'o said.

"It doesn't really bother me at all.

"... If it's going to make player safety better then I'm all for it and everyone just has to adapt.

"For me personally, it doesn't really bother me at all - if they're legal I'll do them, if they're not I won't do them."

Big shoulder charges often dominate highlights packages and can lift a crowd, as well as a team, but Te'o said they would not be missed by coaches - who view them as low percentage, high-risk plays.

"If you talk to the majority of coaches in the NRL, when (shoulder charges) come off some coaches don't mind them but the majority of coaches don't like them," he said.

"They're low percentage and a lot of the times there can be a lot of risk of injury or a penalty.

"No coaches were coaching people to go out there and do it, it's just something that players would do in the heat of the moment."

Both Te'o and Inglis admit it will be difficult to eliminate all shoulder charges, suggesting "reflex" reactions will be difficult to control.

"That will be interesting ... In the heat of the moment, whether your brain can click over and remind you that it's illegal," Te'o said.

"I hope (my brain) does.

"... I found with Greg's one last year, I think that was a lot of reflex. It was flying at full speed and a quick defensive reaction.

"It will be interesting to see how it pans out at the start of the year."

Inglis, while reluctant to comment on the issue, added: "It's going to be difficult to do it (not use the shoulder charge) but it is for player safety ... it's a funny thing to comment on so I'll keep my mouth shut."

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